07 February 2016

The End of the Line for Curtiss Aircraft

XP-87 Blackhawk prototype(USAF Museum)

In the summer of 1945 the US Army Air Force was in the process of outlining its combat aircraft needs in the post-war world. For fighter aircraft, there were three classes of aircraft that the USAAF wanted- an all-weather offensive fighter, a point-defense interceptor, and a long-range penetration fighter. It was expected that because of the state of the technology of the day that the all-weather offensive fighter would be the biggest of the three. On 28 August 1945 the USAAF issued its RfP (Request for Proposals) for the all-weather offensive fighter- a speed of 525 mph at 35,000 feet, 12 minutes to reach 35,000 feet and a 600-mile combat radius. It was thought at the time that piston engines would be necessary, but a refinement of the USAAF requirements a few months later laid out the service's desire for an aircraft that could seek out and destroy both enemy aircraft and ground targets in all weather conditions, day or night. Bell, Consolidated (Convair), Curtiss, Douglas, Goodyear, and Northrop submitted entries; Bell, Convair, and Goodyear were eliminated quickly due to performance deficiencies. Curtiss submitted a large four jet design based on the XA-43 attack jet design they had been working on for a different ground attack specification. Douglas submitted a land-based version of their F3D Skyknight, and Northrop submitted three designs- a refined version of the P-61 Black Widow, one based on the XP-79 flying wing fighter, and an all-new twinjet design.

The political winds of change meant that the USAAF favored Curtiss heavily for the reasons that the previously dominant aircraft manufacturer had no contracts to sustain it in the postwar period and no civilian designs readily available for the growing passenger market. What was left of the funding for the XA-43 project was used to contract with Curtiss for prototypes of their design to be designated the XP-87. But the USAAF was sufficiently interested in Northrop's all-new twinjet design to contract for prototypes of that design as well to be designated XP-89. The USAAF also contracted with Martin Aircraft for a nose mounted turret that would allow the cannons to be swiveled to off-center targets that was to be fitted to both the XP-87 and XP-89.

The designation XA-43 is often and mistakenly used interchangeably with the XP-87 designation- they were in fact two different aircraft that only resembled each other in basic layout. The XA-43 had a tandem cockpit, oval cross-section nacelles that were mounted inline with the wing, and was 65% larger than the XP-87 which had a side-by-side cockpit, rectangular nacelles under the wing. The XA-43's horizontal tail was low set and the design also featured a tail gun. The fact that the first XP-87 prototype was contracted with XA-43 funding led to the confusion that still is seen to this day. The XA-43 was ordered in November 1944 for a jet-powered ground attack bomber but it soon outgrew its proposed powerplants. By the time of the all-weather fighter RfP, the USAAF had lost interest in the XA-43 and allowed Curtiss to redirect its XA-43 efforts to the XP-87. But since policy of the time dictated two prototype aircraft in case of the loss of one, the original XA-43 contract was amended to allow for the construction of a second XP-87 prototype. In August 1946 Curtiss requested to name the XP-87 the Bat, but as there was already a US Navy glide bomb called the Bat, the request was turned down and a month later the XP-87 was given the name Blackhawk.

By 1947 a review was underway to determine which of the fighters under development at the time might be suitable as a tactical reconnaissance aircraft- due to the size and carrying capacity of the XP-87, it was decided that it would also be developed into a reconnaissance version designated the RP-87. In order to not slow down the development, Curtiss was to complete both prototypes as all-weather fighters and then convert the second aircraft into the reconnaissance configuration at the completion of the prototype flight tests. In June 1947 Curtiss raised concerns with the USAAF on the power output of using four Westinghouse J34 engines in the paired nacelles and suggested changing to the Allison J33 as a single J33 engine had the power of two J34s not to mention the simplification of maintenance having only two engines instead of four. The change was approved for the production model but the prototypes would be completed with the four J34 engines.

Only the XP-87 prototypes were to have four paired engines(USAF Museum)

The first prototype was built at Curtiss' production facility in Columbus, Ohio, that once housed wartime production of the SB2C Helldiver. Taxi testing and ground tests took place at Columbus, but the USAAF wanted all flight testing to occur at Muroc AAF (later renamed Edwards AFB) in California. The first XP-87 was partially disassembled and loaded onto a trailer for transport to California- on going under the first highway overpass near the Columbus plant, the height was misjudged and the vertical fin hit the overpass, resulting in significant damage. With the damaged fin removed, he convoy headed out again and outside of Tulsa, Oklahoma got into an accident that damaged the nacelle for the left two engines. It was felt repairs could be made at Muroc and after month, the convoy reached the base where a new vertical fin and a team of engineers were waiting to repair the prototype. The first flight was finally made on 1 March 1948 on a reasonably uneventful 58-minute maiden flight. The next several flights discovered buffeting in the tail due to it having a lower critical Mach number than the rest of the aircraft. Curtiss proposed a redesigned swept empennage for the production aircraft that was also duly approved by the USAAF. A total of 55 contractor test flights were made with the Blackhawk prototype and the flights confirmed the need to change to the Allison J33 on the production fighter- the Westinghouse J34s were unreliable and needed constant repair and replacement. By the time of the next series of flights with service test pilots, the USAAF was now the US Air Force and the first USAF flights were made on 3 June 1948. A week later the USAF placed a preliminary order for 57 P-87B Blackhawks (J33 engines and swept empennage were features of the production "B" version) and 30 RP-87B photo-recon aircraft. The following day the USAF switched from P-for-pursuit to F-for-fighter, the Blackhawk becoming the XF-87.

The now-designated XF-87 from the rear(USAF Museum)

After 19 USAF test flights, a recommendation was made to Curtiss for a slightly larger wing to help reduce the stall speed and it was agreed that the second prototype XF-87 under construction would have the larger wing, the J33 engines, the swept empennage and reconnaissance modifications and would be designated XF-87C. In October 1948 the USAF held a fly-off evaluation with the XF-87 Blackhawk prototype, the Northrop XF-89 which got the name Scorpion, and a borrowed Navy F3D Skyknight to represent the Douglas submission as it was felt the Douglas design was close enough to the production Skyknight that it could act as a stand-in. With pilots of the Air Defense Command participating, while the XF-87 Blackhawk and F3D Skyknight had their strong points (side-by-side seating being one of the strongest suits of both designs in the opinion of the ADC pilots), the Northrop XF-89 Scorpion came out overall ahead in the evaluation and it was selected for production as having the best development potential.

It was a crushing blow for Curtiss-Wright as the XF-87 was its only postwar jet design to take to the air. The Navy had canceled the XF15C mixed-propulsion fighter a few years earlier after only three examples were built. The company, in effect, was betting its future as an aircraft manufacturer on the XF-87 Blackhawk. The first prototype was ferried to Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio in December 1948 and was eventually scrapped by 1950. The second unfinished prototype was never completed and what was done got parted out for other projects that the company was attempting. With no other designs in advanced development, Curtiss-Wright was forced to shut down its Airplane Division and its assets were sold to North American Aircraft and the Columbus plant would be used for the manufacture of the F-86 Sabre. Curtiss-Wright's propeller division remained active into the 1960s and was responsible for the X-19 radial lift test aircraft. Some feel the X-19 was Curtiss' last aircraft design, but in reality it was the XF-87 Blackhawk that represented the end of the line for Curtiss-Wright Aircraft, a company that just ten years earlier was one of the dominant aircraft manufacturers of the United States.

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